Key equipment damaged in blast, leaving several villages in Bicholim taluka without electricity as restoration work continues
Repairs underway at the power substation in Nhavele-Saquelim.
BICHOLIM
A major explosion at the Nhavele-Sanquelim power substation in the early hours of Friday severely disrupted electricity supply in Sanquelim and several nearby villages in Bicholim taluka.
According to officials, the blast destroyed the ‘bus bars’ — large conductors used to transmit power within the substation. The intense fire also damaged the insulators, while transformer oil caught fire and was completely burnt, leaving the entire substation non-functional and causing a widespread power outage in the area.
Personnel from the Bicholim Fire and Emergency Services rushed to the spot and managed to bring the fire under control.
The electricity department immediately launched large-scale repair work to restore the disrupted power supply. Teams of engineers, electricity staff and workers have been deployed at the substation and are working continuously to repair the damaged equipment.
Officials said their priority is to restore electricity supply to residential areas at the earliest. However, due to the extent of the damage caused by the explosion and fire, power supply remained disrupted in Sakhali and several nearby villages. Restoration work is currently underway on a war footing.
